The Conversion Bureau: Courage is All it Takes
by Blood-Red Banner
Summary: A prince turned nomad, a world turned hell, and a journey turned legacy. This story follows the years that a loner suffered to get a chance at going back to how the world used to be. Lots of OCs.
1. Chapter 1

_You may be reading my other story, That's No Pony. You also read that I have a Conversion Bureau story that I want to publish. Well here it is. I started writing That's No Pony to see how people wold react and just to test out my skills. But no need to worry, I will finish That's No Pony eventually. I just really want to get this story done. This story does use the same OC, but its only because he has the right personality for this story. _

_I will have a song of the chapter for each...chapter. It will be a song of my choice that accurately portrays the mood of the chapter._

_Song of the chapter: Grenade (Bruno Mars)_

_Sorry, I don't like that song myself, but it is the right one for this situation._

_Oooooooooo_**Chapter One: Forget Everything**

'Forget her. I can do fine without her.' The young man thought.

He walked down the streets of New York City trying to find anything that would take his mind off of what happened just hours ago. The cold fall breeze made him zip up his black jacket. He passed almost no ponies, which he thought was strange. There were usually thousands of them walking amongst the human population.

He saw a bar, and decided that he should get a drink. But then he remembered what country he was in.

'Fuck. I wish I was back in Zacolia right now.' He thought, thinking about there being no drinking age in his home country.

He looked around for anything to do. He might go up to a fellow human and make a new friend. Preferably a girl. The heartless witch that he was dating before insulted everything he ever lived to protect. He decided to call up a buddy. He took out his cellphone and proceeded to call one of his old high school friends that lived close by.

"Hey, Zac what's up?"

"Nothin' much. You?" Zac replied.

"I'm good. Hey, I've got an extra ticket to watch the Yankees, and I was wondering, do you want to come with me and Jenny?"

It was something. He could go with his old friend to a baseball game, and have a good time. Forget all about the world's problems for a while.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great! Come on over in a little bit. We were just getting all of our stuff packed to move. We just wanted to catch one last game before we leave this god forsaken country."

"Move? Where?" Zac asked.

"To Zacolia of course! It's the only place on this planet that hasn't gone to shit."

"You won't be able to get in. They shut down their borders months ago."

Ever since the crash, humans everywhere flocked to Zacolia. The economy was the strongest in the world in these dark times. There were plenty of jobs to offer, and people could be safe from the propaganda being spread about ponification. Conversion bureaus were outlawed in Zacolia. However, the population was growing too fast, and the government shut down all borders. You couldn't get in without being deported or even shot.

"I know that. But we have a special friend that could maybe get us in."

"I don't know, bro. I cold get in some serious trouble." Zac said.

"Don't worry! You just get us special permission to get through the border and we go find a place to settle in!"

"It doesn't work that way, Garrett! I can't just flash an ID and you're in just like that. The only people in and out of the country are the government and military."

"Look, we can discuss this later. Lets just meet up at Times Square and have a good evening, okay?" Garrett said.

"Alright. I won't be late."

"See ya."

Zac hung up and started his walk towards Times Square. When he got there, he looked up at the big screen and watched the adds and such come and go. He never saw any conversion promos. There were usually multiple conversion adds encouraging people to become ponies. But then the face of a news reporter came onto the screen, and everyone turned to watch.

"We have breaking news. It appears that all conversion bureaus have been abandoned. Also, all pony civilians are nowhere to be found. But word from Equestrian officials says that they have come to their senses and moved to Equestria through the portal. For what reason? It is still being discussed by government leaders. The abandoned bureaus are being torn apart and vandalized by angry crowds. But why would the ponies all suddenly move to Equestria? Find out more later."

"What the hell..." Zac said.

Then he heard a car honk right behind him. It was barely audible through the roaring of the crowd. Garrett was behind the wheel, and his girlfriend Jenny was in the passenger seat. Zac got in the back seat and they took off.

"So, Zac. You sounded troubled on the phone. Is something bothering you?" Garrett asked.

"Trouble with women."

"Ah. Well I've got my Jenny and I know she wold never do anything to break my heart."

"And I've got my Garbear that I love so much." Jenny said.

They leaned in to each other and planted a kiss on each others lips.

"You two are lucky. I thought I had found true love. But she threw it all in the trash when she said what she did." Zac said for the back seat.

"What did she say?" Garrett asked.

"It's not important."

Zac adjusted his belt with all of his gear on it. He accidentally sat on his gas mask, so he just unhooked it from the belt and set it on the floor of the car. He worked as an security guard for the Zacolian ambassador, kind of strange for one of the princes of Zacolia. He didn't like to be treated like he was all rich and shit. He wanted the normal life of a middle class citizen. The best way he could do so was by having normal jobs. He wanted some kind of responsibility though, so he became a secret service agent.

They came across a huge traffic jam after driving for a while.

'Fuck traffic.' Zac thought.

ooooooooo

_Well, there it is. My first chapter for this story. I hope you enjoyed. If you're wondering what Zacolia is, just go to my profile. It explains everything._

_Have faith, my friends. _


	2. Chapter 2

_I know that last chapter was quite short, but this one will be longer, I promise. How did you like the first chapter? Good? No? Okay..._

_Song of the chapter: 21 Guns (Green Day)_

_oooooooooo_

**Chapter Two: Surprise**

They sat in the long traffic line for what seemed like hours. The eeriness of the atmosphere was getting worse. People were honking for no reason at all, which just served to piss Zac off even more. A few drops of water hit the windows, and then more, and more, and soon, it was raining. Not just raining, but it was a full blown monsoon.

Garrett turned on the radio and tuned it to the sports station.

"Due to the sudden rain the game will be delayed until further notice."

"Dammit." Garrett said.

"Well, Mother Nature decides to screw us again." Zac said.

"Don't worry, we can wait it out. We'll just stay in the parking lot or something. Just as soon as these assholes move!" Garrett said.

He honked the horn at no one in particular, and some people were pulling out into the smaller streets just to get away from the traffic and go back home.

"Dammit. This is another reason I want to get out of this city. The traffic sucks and people are huge di-"

Garrett was interrupted by a scream. It was a bone chilling scream that meant only one thing, terror. Garrett decided to get out of the car and stand up. What he saw must have scared him to the extreme, because he got back in the car and floored it into the sidewalk. There were multiple screams now. They were mixed with the screams of people trying to get out of Garrett's way.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Zac screamed.

"I fuckin' knew it!" Garrett said.

"What?" Jenny said with worry.

"The ponies are attacking!" Garrett said.

Another car cut them off and caused them to swerve directly into a parked car. Another car then smashed right into the side, causing all three of them to jerk to the side. Zac was sent flying through the side window and was thrown out of the car and into the grass by the side of the road.

When he came to, he felt nothing but pain. He opened his eyes and saw that his friends were still in the car. They were unconscious and slumped forward. Zac tried to move, and a surge of pain swept through his whole body. He tried to stand, and when he did, his legs buckled and he fell onto his knees. The rain was washing off any blood that he was covered in. He got up and slowly limped towards the car. The broken glass crunched under his boots as he stumbled over his own feet towards the wreckage.

He leaned on the car for support and shook Garrett.

"Garrett. Garrett! Wake up you drunk Irish bastard!"

Garrett stirred. He coughed and his eyes opened. He put his head up to see Zac. He had small bits of glass in his face and a deep gash on his temple.

"Wha?"

"It's alright, I'm gonna get you two out of here and we're gonna move. They're coming." Zac said, frantic to get his buddy out of the wreckage. The other car had spun out and was down the street a ways. Zac saw the driver crawl out and stand up to run, but a vial of purple liquid hit him in the back and he collapsed. He writhed around on the ground and slowly changed shape. His ears changed position in his head, patches of red fur sprouted, and he got smaller. Soon, a red stallion was laying on the ground where the man used to be. More ponies equipped with ponification serum were coming down the street, towards the trio.

"Sorry, bro." Zac said as he abandoned the couple and ran towards the rest of the crowd.

He saw the ponies surround the car, but then the people of the crowd blocked his view and he kept running. Random bottles of the serum were being thrown into the crowd, and those who were hit were ponies within seconds. One bottle shattered right next to Zac, and he had to jump to prevent the splash from hitting him in the legs.

The crowd of running people was slowly being withered down, and those who were lucky escaped over fences and into buildings. Those who were left alone and separated from the rest of the crowd were locked on to by the pegasi overhead and the serum was dropped right on top of them. Zac witnessed a man get tackled by a pony and they forcibly made him ingest the serum.

Zac pulled out his gun and ran towards an alley. Others kept running, only to be hunted down by the attackers. When he went to round the corner in the alley, two ponies with bottles in hoof blocked the way. Zac shot one of them in the head, and the other threw a bottle at him. He narrowly dodged the bottle and it shattered against the brick wall. Zac shot him twice and he fell.

"You made me do it." He said as he jumped over their bodies and continued sprinting towards where he had left his truck. It was back at the United Nations Building. He had left it there because he had forgotten all about it in his anger. It was a solid three blocks before he could reach it. All he had to do was not get spotted the whole way there. Simple, right?

He ran through several streets and finally made it to East 42nd street. Then it was a straight shot from there. He slowed to a jog and was now running through a seemingly abandoned area. The rain had stopped, and there was now just an eerie fog. But when he was right at the end of the street and the UN building was in sight, he heard more screams. A group of about twenty or so people ran down the street and split up once they reached his position. Dozens of ponies chased them down the streets and they were slowly being picked off, one by one. Zac jumped into a news kiosk and waited for them to pass. All he heard was screams, glass shattering, and hooves hitting the concrete. When all was quiet, he exited the kiosk and checked both ways before crossing the street. Just like mommy taught him.

He got through the gate and proceeded towards the parking lot. He saw his black pickup truck and pulled out his keys.

'Almost there.' He said in his head.

He got to the truck and unlocked it. He quickly jumped in and put the keys in the ignition. It rumbled to a start and sounded like heaven to his ears. He then reached into the back to lift up the seat and reveal the rest of his gear. A pump action shotgun, a black vest, and other things he might need in a combat situation. He grabbed the red and white shemagh that he kept for good luck and wrapped it around his neck. He pulled out the shotgun and set it in the passenger seat, just in case the time came for its use. H put his M1911 back in its holster on his waist and put on the vest. He put shotgun shells in the straps of the vest and more 8 round .45 magazines in their pouches on his vest. He put any other gear that he might need in their respective pouches and closed the seat. He started to drive out of the parking lot and into the abandoned streets.

He would have never anticipated an all out attack on Earth. He wondered how they even deployed in such vast numbers so quickly. Why were they even doing this? He turned on the radio.

"There are ponies fucking attacking us! Run for your fucking lives!"

He changed it to a different station.

"Reports of Equestrian attacks have come in from all over the world. The countries being hardest hit so far are the US, China, the UK, and Zacolia."

That last country's name hit him hard. His home. His land. He paused for a second and stared straight ahead.

'Those mother fuckers. They did it. They fucked up now. They're gonna pay now.' He thought.

He drove past crowds of people trying to find the quickest route out of New York. He had the same goal as them, but he was also trying to find a way to Zacolia. He needed to see if his family was safe. He tried calling his father, but to no avail. He tried his mother, but got nothing. He tried each of his siblings, and only Scylla, his older sister answered.

"Scylla! What's going on, why isn't anyone answering!?"

"They've been ponified.*sniff* They burst through the windows and got mom and dad. Then we ran as fast as we could, but they got Bryan and Valeri. Me and Dakinstin are hiding under desks in the offices."

"Are they close?" Zac asked.

"They're right in the doorway. I'm scared."

"Don't worry. You're gonna be okay. I need you to breathe deeply for a moment. What desk are you under?"

"The treasurer's."

"Okay, there's a small safe under the desk, do see it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, type in 32856, and it should open."

Scylla typed in the number and the small door unlocked.

"There's a gun in there. Slide it to Dakinstin."

She did so.

"You're gonna need to make a run for it. When the time is right, run for the emergency exit. Then get to the roof and flag down a helicopter if you see one."

She waved to Dakinstin and pointed towards the emergency exit. He nodded and got out from under the desk and into a crouched position. She did the same and followed him. They went over to the exit door, but when they opened it, it made a small creak, and one of the ponies pointed with his hoof to the door.

"There!"

"Shit, they saw us!" Scylla said into the phone.

"Run!" Zac commanded.

They ran out onto the roof. They ran up towards the next tier and Dakinstin started shooting at the ponies as the came out of the door. There were multiple gunshots heard from the streets below. People were running from the ponies as bottle after bottle was lobbed into the crowd. Some charged the ponies and fought with their bare hands, but they were soon caught in the range of attack and ponified.

The two siblings ran up to the next tier as ponies flooded onto the roof.

"There are no helicopters, Zac! We're surrounded by the ponies!" Scylla screamed.

There was a long pause on the other end.

"I'm sorry, sister. There's nothing I can do..." Zac said.

"Zac? Zac! He hung up..." She said.

Dakinstin's gun ran out of ammo, and he threw the gun at an oncoming pony, hitting him in the head.

"Any word on help?" He asked.

"No. We're done. There's nothing more to do."

They closed their eyes as a single bottle broke on the rooftop and splattered them both.


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, so my asshole iPad decided to spazz out on me when I was writing he Author's Note at the end of this chapter. I was writing my farewell (Have faith, my friends) and I accidentally spelled faith wrong. But when the auto correct thing popped up, there was nothing in it, and my whole iPad froze. So I had to turn it off and turn it back on, and sure enough, all of my hard work was deleted. So fuck you iPad. Let me finish my shit. Enjoy this shit chapter that I had to write because I couldn't remember shit from the last time._

**Chapter Three: Resistance is Futile**

****Zac set his phone down as a single tear left his eye and was absorbed by his scarf. They had done it. They took his family. The very race that claimed to be helping us was invading.

He slammed on the steering wheel and let out a low whimper. He wiped the tears from his eyes and concentrated on the road in front of him. Why did they have to take his family? Why? They had done nothing to deserve this.

He turned the radio back on and listened.

"There are already millions that have been ponified. They are deploying by the thousands in every corner of the world, in every major city. There are even reports of Equestrian forces in the inland parts of the world. The military is ordering that all of the remaining humans stay out of sight and make your way to the nearest military base. You will then-"

The reporter's voice was cut off. A familiar voice came in and took his place.

"Humans. We Equestrians have issued a general order of ponification of the human race. We will not stop until every last human is turned into a pony. Why not just put down your fists and accept the fact that humanity is crumbling? Your governments have fallen, your economy is worse than ever, but you can escape it all and join us. We will take care of you and your loved ones. You can live a wonderful life in Equestria. Any remaining humans, and let me say that there are only about three billion of you left, will be hunted down and converted. Any resistance will result in the use of force. If you still don't surrender, you are subject to either being a prisoner of war, where not many good things will happen to you, or purification."

The voice belonged to the Witch of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle. She didn't like humans, at all. What she meant by purification was execution. There were so little humans because over half of the population volunteered to be ponified before. Zac had met her before, and he didn't like her from the start.

"The Purge has started." She closed with.

"Fuck." Zac swore.

**4 months ago...**

Zac was getting a tour of one of the bureaus. He followed the tan stallion that was his tour guide down the halls, oblivious to what he was saying.

"-and we are now working on a serum that will take less time and will be a lot less painful."

"Uh huh." Zac said. He watched a human be led into one of the rooms, his intentions clear enough.

"I will now show you to Twilight Sparkle's office. She is our chief scientist." The stallion said.

They walked down the halls towards the blurred glass door that was Twilight Sparkle's. When they reached it, the pony opened the door for Zac and stayed outside.

"Thank you." He said.

The pony closed the door and left him alone. Zac looked up at a lavender unicorn who was behind a desk. The room was all white, except for the posters that promoted ponification scattered about the walls.

"Hello?" He asked, trying to get her attention.

She looked up from the papers that she was sorting.

"Oh, I wasn't informed of any humans coming in my office." She said. The way she said "humans" showed her disgust of the species.

"I was wondering why you started these bureaus. Why do you want humans to become ponies?"

She seemed to ignore him, as she decided to keep organizing.

"Hello? I asked a question."

She didn't answer.

"HELLO." He half shouted.

She put her head down on the desk and put her hooves over her ears. Zac leaned in and pulled one away, causing her to jump.

"Ew! It touched me!" She screamed. She ran over to the sink and started washing her hoof frantically.

"All I want to know is-"

"If you want to know about ponification so bad, then go get ponified!"

Zac scooted out the door as she washed her hoof. He closed the door behind himself and turned to the guide.

"Is she usually so ignorant?"

"She's never been to me. I guess it's just something about humans." He said.

**Present...**

"Bitch." He said.

He drove for a few more hours before he spotted a small town. There was smoke coming from one of the neighborhoods, so he decided to go in. Maybe he could find some much needed supplies.

He began to hear gunfire as he got closer. When he turned the corner, he saw police behind their cars, shooting down the street. He stopped and decided to help out. He jogged up by one of the officers and crouched down.

"What's going on here?" He asked.

"It's the damn HLF. They started cheering 'rapture' as they started burning down houses and causing chaos all over town." The young officer replied.

Zac poked his head up, and was answered with multiple bullets striking the hood of the car.

"I'm gonna try to flank them. Give me some cover." He said.

The officer nodded and stood up, firing 12 gauge slugs down the street. Zac used this opportunity to run over to a house and use his parkour skills to climb up. He got a running start and jumped to the next rooftop. He kept running and jumped two more roofs before he decided that he was in a good enough position. He equipped his shotgun and started firing down on the insurgents. They were being picked off one by one by his shooting. Soon enough, they started retreating down the street. A couple of police cars sped down the street in pursuit.

Zac waved to the cops that were still at the end of the street. Before they could respond, a scream was heard through the smoke. Zac drew his weapon, ready to fire. One of the police cars sped out of the smoke at a high speed, and kept going. The other policemen were confused just as much as Zac. They aimed into the smoke. Slowly, several silhouettes appeared. But they weren't human. A bottle flew out of the smoke, and Zac had to jump off of the roof to dodge it.

The police started firing their weapons at the ponies as they advanced. Zac got up and started running towards the officers. Bottle after bottle was being lobbed over his head and into the line of policemen. Pegasi were dropping serum from above. The police men were ponies within seconds. All unimportant memories of their past lives erased. They got up off of the ground, confused. They wriggled out of the clothes that they had on and looked around.

Zac redirected his path towards a fence, where he climbed into a backyard and climbed over another fence. He could see his truck now. He fired a few potshots at the chasing ponies as he ran toward the vehicle. A pegasus swooped in for a tackle, but Zac fired a round into his wing, causing him to crash. He fired off a few more shots from his pistol and got in to his truck. He quickly turned the keys in the ignition and drive off as fast as he could.

'That shit was intense.' He thought.

ooooooooo

_I managed to get this chapter done. That's all I have to say._

_Have faith, my friends._


	4. Chapter 4

_It has been a very long time since I updated this story, I know. I put it on hiatus for a little so I could work on "That's No Pony". I found out that there are only a few people that actually read this story, but I will continue it, for you._

_Song of the chapter: Radioactive (Imagine Dragons)_

_ooooooooo_

**Chapter Four: As The World Burns**

It has been two years. Two long, grueling years. They attacked, they took from him, and now he was alone. Anyone who he knew he couldn't get a hold of, and all he had was his trusty Colt, his truck, and a photo. The photo of him and his family before he left for Solitago. He remembered the hell that he went through when he was there.

RPGs whizzing right by his head, explosions, yelling, the screams of his lost friends. He pushed that out of his head.

'Don't think about that. That happened three years ago.'

He drove down a humble little highway known as Route 66. He had once traveled down this road as a child when his mother and father were still young and active. He wasn't going to do much with his family now. He was just hoping that they were having a good life in the foreign land where they were taken. Tears rolled down his cheeks and fell onto his plaid shirt.

**Two Years Ago...**

"So this procedure is painless?"

"Relatively. You will feel quite...different. It will take a while to get used to your new body." The pony doctor said.

Zac thought hard for a second. He looked at the strange serum standing on the cart next to him. His family would never be seen again by him. They were against it all. His father had banned bureaus in Zacolia. Did he really want to leave his home? And go to a place where he knew no one?

"Doc, put that stuff away. I'm not going through with it."

"What? We have already made the calculations! The precautions! You can't go back now!"

"Too bad. I'm going back. I don't care if my girlfriend wants me to do it, I'm staying a human."

"I guess I can't force you to do something you don't concede to."

"Thank you anyways."

**Present...**

He ran his hand along his chin and felt the red hairs that covered his jaw. He was planning on shaving, but there was a feeling of insecurity in his gut. He would never stop, only to salvage gas from abandoned cars in the many ghost towns along the side of the road.

The armies of Celestia had worked their way inland within the first few months of the Purge. Humans were disappearing by the thousands day by day. He looked at the government-installed screen on his dashboard and clicked the population scan button. The satellites in orbit worked by themselves, and even after the stations controlling them shut down, the satellite itself would continue running for decades. As the loading bar filled up, he took a breath. When the number showed up, he was not surprised.

121,463,792

Not many. He was surprised that Equestria wasn't overflowing. They were over there, building more houses, eating apples, starting families, while he is driving through the desert, scavenging, fighting, and praying. It wasn't fair. Why were they doing this? His home country was practically a clone of Equestria, except there were humans. He pressed the button that the government had installed after first contact with the Equestrians. It ran a scan from another satellite showing the pony population.

10,265,890,732

They were all soldiers. All hunters equipped with ponification serum. They were all on a search and destroy mission, to locate every last human and turn them to Equestria's side in this war by means of ponification. Humans aren't going to give up that easily. He looked at the map showing the concentrations of ponies right next to one for humans. Wherever there was a hundred ponies per square mile, a red dot was shown. Wherever there was humans, a blue dot was shown.

Some humans in Australia, a single dot in Great Britain, scattered dots in Russia, but a specific group of dots caught his eye. A concentrated group near Vaxavia, Zacolia. There were survivors in his country. He finally had a feeling of hope. He was to head to the west coast of the US and there he could find a plane in working order to fly to them! He was going home!

He learned to fly a plane when he was sixteen, right before he left for Solitago. He never really wanted to fly, and he never got a chance, but now he was going to have to. A feeling of relief and happiness washed over him. He smiled for once in two years and continued his drive.

He drove for about eight more hours, but then he realized a flashing red signal by the gas meter. He was low on gas. He looked around on the horizon and saw a few buildings. He got off of the highway and drove along the smaller road towards this town. He hummed his favorite song as he neared the cluster of buildings. When he was close enough, he realized that this wasn't a town, but an abandoned military base. The sign said that it was military grounds and to not trespass.

The gate was closed, so he took the keys out of the ignition and put them in his pocket. He got out his trusty M1911 and walked towards the gate. There was a chain link fence surrounding the base with barbed wire on the top of it. Several buildings littered the inside of the perimeter. Zac walked up to the door next to the gate and saw a padlock on it. He wasn't going to waste a bullet, so he went back to his truck to get the hacksaw that he had in the back seat with the rest of the supplies.

He returned to the gate and sawed away at the chains. Once they broke, them and the padlock fell to the dusty ground and Zac put the saw back in his truck. He pulled open the gate and drove his truck in. He stopped and pulled out the keys and put them back in his pocket. He locked the door and headed towards one of the buildings. He went into an open door and pointed his pistol around each corner of the room. It was mostly empty besides a desk with what was left of a computer, along with some photos on the walls and a dead plant in the corner.

The walls were all white, but were still covered in dust and dirt. He spotted a doorway and headed through it with care. There were bullet holes on the walls and shell casings on the floor. He looked towards the far wall of this new room and saw a large metal door. This could usually only mean one thing, an armory. He touched the code lock and looked around his surroundings. He found nothing helpful, but he did take out his small tool kit from his belt. He unscrewed the panel and pulled it off, revealing the wires. He used his wire cutters to snip a few wires, then he started trying to connect different wires. A few sparks flew off of them, but then a shifting sound was heard, and the door came loose from its position.

'Whatever I did, it worked.'

He pulled open the large door with all of his strength, and he was not disappointed. The room was only about 10X10, but the walls were lined with M16 and M4 rifles. There was a couple of M249 light machine guns, and a few M320 grenade launchers. But one weapon caught his eye most. It was an M40A5 sniper rifle. He always had a thing for sniper rifles. He was a good shot, too.

He picked up the rifle and examined it closely. The M40A5 was a modern version of the M40, which was introduced in the Vietnam War. It was a shame that all of the gun designers' work went to waste. All of the modern technology that humanity had made with good old fashioned ingenuity was now rotting in the abandoned buildings that held them.

The rifle was spray painted with a tan finish, and the scope was better than normal civilian scopes. He decided to take it. He attached a sling and draped it around his shoulder. He then picked up an M4A1 rifle from the racks. He bent down and picked up a box of ammo for the rifle and went out to his truck. He made a few trips of getting ammo for the weapons he had and piled them all in the back seat with his large backpack full of food and other supplies.

He went back in with the M4 and started browsing the attachments available. He chose a Trijicon ACOG scope and properly sighted it in. He attached a PEQ box to the side of the rail and grabbed a few extra batteries for it. He then screwed on a suppressor for stealth encounters. Last, but not least, he put on an M320 grenade launcher. He grabbed about twenty grenades for it and stuffed them all in his pockets.

He felt bad just leaving all of this other ammo and weapons behind, so he took a piece of paper from the desk and a pen. He licked the end of it and started writing a note.

_Dear Scavenger,_

_If you found this armory, you're doing good. I left you plenty of ammo and more than enough weapons. Just don't use it to kill others, unless it's the damn HLF. Kill them if you can get away with it._

_Good luck,_

_A Fellow Human_

He left the note on the desk and put a rock on it. He went back to his truck and put a fresh magazine in the rifle. He walked around the camp some more to look for gasoline, but to no avail. There was not a drop of gas anywhere, there weren't even any vehicles.

He got back in his truck and started up the engine.

oooooooo

_I know this chapter is short, but I just wanted a chapter telling how he is living his life now._

_Have faith, my friends._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello, few readers of this story. I will continue this story even if it is only like, three people that are reading it. My readers are that special to me. Without further ado, enjoy._

_Song of the chapter: Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day)_

_oooooooooo_

**Chapter Five: Encounter**

His truck made a continuous beeping noise that warned him that he was dangerously low on gasoline. There was no "I'll wait until the next town" now. He had to stop. He was just passing under a small bridge, so he guessed that it might be good enough cover from bandits and looters. What he didn't notice, was a town that was just on the other side. He locked his truck after getting out the sniper rifle and an extra magazine.

He looked up from his gear to see a sign. What it said was not literate, because someone had spray painted "Ponies Fuck Off" on it in big red letters. Under that was the symbol of the HLF.

"Bastards. Taking over towns. Whatever, if I have to shoot some bitches, I have to shoot some bitches." He said to himself.

He resorted to talking to himself after two straight years of loneliness. He wasn't sure if he was insane, his mind was telling him so many different things at one time. He had never been more confused about anything in his life. But he kept it together as best as he could.

He drew his sniper rifle and looked to the right of the sign. He saw a pretty decent sized town about a half of a mile away. He started a long walk to this town and kept his rifle ready to shoot back at any potential threats. He kept his head on a swivel the whole time.

Once he got into the town, he observed the buildings. They were like a long strip mall on both sides of the street. Several cars and small items littered the street. There was a tall radio tower off in the distance. He scoped in on it, but found no threats on or around it, so he was good for now.

He walked next to the buildings on the right side of the street. He began to notice something off about the cars. They had smoke coming from them. He noticed a few fires burning around him. Whatever happened here, it happened recently.

He walked towards the smoldering remains of a minivan. Whatever might have been useful for him that was in it was gone. He walked around the minivan, and the sight he got would scar his mind forever. An entire family of a man, woman, teenager, and a small child were lying on the pavement. They all shared a pool of blood, with the source of the bleeding being their heads. They had all been shot execution style.

He almost threw up from the smell of their bodies. He covered his nose with his scarf and said a quick Zacolian prayer. He kissed the phonolix that he had around his neck.

"I will avenge each of you."

It was that moment when he heard a scream. Not really a scream, but more of a squeal. He lifted his rifle and jogged towards the source of the noise. It led him to a hardware store, and he went inside and to the back door. The door was slightly cracked open. He could see a courtyard behind it with an alley that led to another street. Then he saw a figure. A human. He was bald and had a denim jacket on. He was yelling at someone on the other side of the courtyard, but the field of vision that the crack gave him didn't let him see that far.

Whoever he was yelling at continued to whimper, and he raised his gun. He fired a round into the air and then pointed the gun back down to whoever he had hostage. Zac decided to open the door a little more, and he could see two more thugs with guns, but he still didn't have an angle on the hostages. He had to make this fast.

He took out his 1911 and charged the door like his rebellious self. He dove in and fired a round directly into the bald guy's chest. He flipped over on the ground to shoot the woman thug in the chest twice, and he finished off the last guy with a shot to the neck. He aimed his pistol all around to make sure there were no more, and it was clear.

He got up and looked at the hostages. But shock overtook him. Four ponies. Four live and well ponies were cowering in the center of the courtyard. One of them was a minty blue unicorn with a lighter blue mane. Her cutie mark was a lyre. Another was a black pegasus with a dark blue mane and a more purplish tail. His cutie mark was a blue shield with crossed swords crossed over it. The third was a pale yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a trio of butterflies. The fourth was a cream-white earth pony with a black mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a trio of musical notes. She was unconscious with a cut on her forehead. The black pegasus was binded and had a clear bruised eye and a small stream of blood going down from his nose. The unicorn got up.

"Hey, stay down!" Zac said.

She complied and covered her head.

"No, please! I will give in to anything you demand! _Anything!" _She said.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt any of you. Why are you so far away from the rest of your kind?" Zac asked, sheathing his gun.

"What? You aren't going to take us hostage? Or make us do things? At least have your way with us?" The unicorn asked.

"What? No, gross. Listen, I just thought to have some common courtesy and kill these assholes so you can live. Every life is worth something. There's nothing left for me on this godforsaken planet. Especially after what your kind did."

"We are part of the Equestrians for Earthen Freedom!" The yellow pegasus burst out.

"Really? Even if you weren't, I would let you go anyways. I'm not against your race. But I am against what your princess chose to do to deal with us." Zac said.

"Look, untie me, and we will explain everything." The black pegasus said.

Zac pulled out the knife on his vest and knelt down to cut the ropes around his hooves and wings. As soon as he did, he received a hoof to the face. It was quite hard, too. He fell back, and the pegasus pinned him down. Zac struggled to get out, but he twisted sideways and elbowed the pegasus in the face. He pushed him back and held him down. He put his knee on the pegasus' wings and got up close.

"Listen. I am not going to hurt any of you. If you promise to not touch me when I get up, I will introduce myself, and you three will do the same. Got it?"

"Just get off of me!"

"Say please." Zac said.

"Please get off!"

Zac got up and collected himself.

"Now, what are your names?" He asked with a fake smile.

"Ugh. I'm Dusk Wing. That's Lyra Heartstrings and Fluttershy. The beautiful mare on the ground is my beloved Diamond Grace."

"Oh, shit. Hold on." Zac said.

He went over to Diamond Grace and got his medkit from the small bag on his waist. He got out a bottle of alcohol and a roll of gauze. He got on a pair of sanitary gloves and tore off a piece of the gauze. The other three ponies gathered around.

"Oh, thank you. I don't know how to do it myself, and I didn't know what to do." Dusk Wing said.

"It's alright. I've dealt with worse." Zac said.

He put alcohol on the gauze and pressed it against the forehead of the beautiful mare. She stirred. Zac smiled and started wrapping the gauze around her head.

"I won't even have to give her stitches. It's not bad at all. Maybe a concussion, but other than that, she will be fine."

Her eyes opened the slightest bit. When she saw Zac, her eyes instantly shot open and she got up and hugged the daylights out of him.

"Zac! Zac! You're alive! I'm so happy!" She rejoiced.

"That voice...Valeri? Oh my god. Valeri! I missed you so much!" He said, hugging her back.

"Valeri? Grace, how do to know this man?" Dusk Wing said.

"He's my brother! I haven't seen him in forever!" She shouted.

"Oh my god. Valeri, how are the others?"

"We are doing great! It's not anything like home, but we're still happy. We have a nice home in Manehattan and We are doing good. Bryan is still making music, as am I. Mom and Dad are lawyers. Scylla and Dakinstin are both working at a coffee shop."

"What are their names?"

"Mom is Ruby Sunset, Dad is Royal Sea, Bryan is still Bryan, Scylla is Rose Ivy, Dakinstin is now Brass Shield."

"I have to say, those names sound pretty badass. Except Bryan's. He sucks." Zac said with a laugh.

"We are lucky to still have our memories. Most of those ponified had their minds filled with fake ones. A made up past, everything."

"You can't just do that! I'm sure lots of people had great lives and now they don't remember any of it!" Zac exclaimed.

"I'm just glad that I remember all of our past. I'm glad that I remember my favorite brother."

They hugged each other again before Dusk Wing smiled.

"You two are lucky. I don't even know if I was ponified or I was just born a pony. That's what it feels like, but I think it's possible that the fake memories are in my head and I can't remember anything other than the life I've been living. It's been so long." He said.

"Are your memories good ones?" Zac asked.

"Absolutely."

"That's all you could ask for. My life is full of good and bad memories. Some that I would rather forget, but some that I will cherish forever." Zac said.

He looked around at the other two mares.

"So, Lyra and Fluttershy. How are you two doing?" He asked.

"We are fine now that you saved us." Lyra said with a mischievous smile.

"Riiiiight. Fluttershy, it's important to know that I won't hurt you." He said, noticing her looking at his guns.

"I'm sorry. It's just...I've never been this close to a human in a long time."

He pat her head and looked around to the door where he came in.

"Alright, enough dicking around. Someone had to have heard those shots." Zac said.

Zac got out his rifle and moved towards the door. As he had expected, a truck with a heavy machine gun mounted on back drove past the store. He motioned for them to stay down and he crouched down and ran towards the counter. Once the truck was out of eye and earshot, he told the ponies to follow him.

They followed him to the edge of town. He told them to move from cover to cover on the way to the underpass. They did as he told and they moved from wrecked car to cluster of rocks, all the way to the bridge. Zac unlocked the door remotely, but when he told the ponies to get in, a bullet struck him in the upper body. It tore through the right side of his chest, barely missing his vital organs. The ponies all gasped and Dusk Wing pulled him closer to the truck.

"Oh, fuck! God dammit!"

Fluttershy attempted to calm him with a hoof on his shoulder, but he shook it off and unslung his sniper rifle.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. Fucking snipers." He said.

He got up and dashed over to a cluster of rocks, narrowly avoiding another bullet. He looked over to the ponies.

"Dusk, I'm gonna need you to stick your head out. He's got a bead on me, so he won't have enough time to re-adjust and shoot you."

Dusk Wing was no wuss. He nodded and got near the back of the truck.

"One, Two, Now!"

Dusk Wing poked his head out for a couple of seconds before he heard a gunshot from Zac's rifle. He continued to look at the tower where the sniper was and saw a body falling from around the middle.

"He's dead. We're good."

He got up and walked over to the truck. He set down his rifle and sat down on the driver's seat. Fluttershy crawled up to the front and tapped his left shoulder.

"Um...I could help with that wound...if that's okay."

"Thank you, Fluttershy. There's a bigger medkit right behind you."

She smiled and turned to see a backpack with a medic insignia on it. She grabbed it in her mouth and brought it up to the passenger seat. She opened it up and found the necessary tools and supplies she would need for this injury. She got a bottle of alcohol and a rag and dabbed some alcohol on the rag. She lightly touched the wound, and Zac concealed the pain. She put more pressure on the wound and Zac winced.

"I'm sorry. I'm almost done." She said.

As she started to treat the wound further, Zac tried to start up a conversation so the atmosphere wouldn't be so awkward.

"So, Dusk Wing. How long have you been dating my sister?"

"About four months."

"You two happy with each other, then?"

"Absolutely. Your sister is an angel."

"Yeah. She always had that charm that boys liked. But her relationships never lasted this long. What you two have is special."

Fluttershy tightened the bandages, making Zac wince.

"Sorry." She said.

She tied the bandage and Zac turned around so she could work on his chest, where the bullet entered. Once she was done, Zac got up and got the M4 from his back seat.

"Alright. Y'all stay here and I'm gonna get some gas." He said.

oooooooooo

They waited for what seemed like hours, and sometimes heard small cracks of gunfire from the town. Soon enough, another pickup truck drove up to them. Zac got out with a huge smile on his face.

"Why don't we take that one?" Dusk Wing asked.

"Mine has more miles per gallon, plus mine is just sexier." He said.

He grabbed two fuel canisters from the bed of the truck and opened the fuel compartment. He began to pour the fuel into the tank and hummed a tune as he did. He poured at least ten canisters into the tank, but then he went over to the other truck and got on the ground. He slid under the truck and pulled out a screwdriver from his belt. He put a gas can under the tank and stabbed the tank.

Gasoline poured out and he caught it with the empty canister. It got mostly filled up, and he poured it into his truck. He ushered them into the truck and started it up.

"So, where do you plan on going?" Dusk Wing asked.

"Zacolia. I saw that there's a group of humans still there and I'm going to them. They're right by the capital."

"Really? Zac, you have a chance at saving humanity here. We could find an antidote, turn all of the humans back. We could save our race." Valeri said.

"That's not my priority right now. Right now, I just want to get home."

oooooooooo

_Awww. They have been reunited! Sorry for the long update wait._

_Have faith, my friends._


	6. Chapter 6

_Oh, yeah. I'd like to welcome Dusk Wing, created by ChrisKilla8! Forgot to do that in the last chapter. Also, if you want your OC to be in this, PM me! I'm only gonna include maybe two more (Just saying, they might not have any significant roles). I've got Dusk Wing, someone else's OC, and yours could be next._

_Song of the chapter: Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones)_

_ooooooooo_

**Chapter Six: Carry On**

Never had Zac been this social in years. He talked to them about funny things he did in the past, things he wanted to do, but couldn't, and about his family. They enjoyed themselves for a while before they drove up to a large mountain range.

"Ah, the Rockies. Only thing keeping me from getting home."

"Well, let's drive through them." Dusk Wing said.

Zac pointed at a sign on the side of the road. It had a spray painted pony skull and the HLF symbol.

"Oh."

"I say we camp out here until daytime comes again, then we'll move. We might see them before they see us." Zac said.

"Good with me." Dusk Wing said.

"Can I share a tent with you?" Lyra asked.

"Why?"

"I don't like to sleep alone at night, and you're so big. I'd feel a lot safer if I slept next to you." She said.

"Umm. Okay." Zac said.

Zac drove the truck to a small group of rocks that made a half-circle. He parked the truck behind them and opened the door for the ponies to get out. He had a few tents of different sizes. One of them was a medium sized military tent. The other two were civilian tents. Lyra helped him set them up and the other three sat down on the ground.

Once Zac got the last stake into the ground, he looked up and smiled. The sun was just about set. He went back to his truck and got out a few wool blankets. He tossed one to Dusk Wing, who wasn't paying much attention, so it hit him in the face and snapped him out of his trance.

"Hehe. Sorry, man." Zac said.

"Sorry, I was miles away." Dusk Wing said.

Zac unzipped the door-flap of the tent and lay down. He took off his gear and buried his face in the rolled up blanket he was using as a pillow.

"If y'all need me I'll be asleep."

"Alright." Diamond Grace called.

He focused on getting a few hours of sleep at least and passed out. Lyra soon creeped in and curled up next to him, laying her head on his chest. She rubbed near his crotch with her hoof and fell asleep herself.

ooooooooo

Zac suddenly shot up from his sleep in a cold sweat. He breathed heavily and looked around. It was almost pitch black except for the dim moonlight shining through the thin material of the tent.

He saw Lyra sprawled out with her legs going every which way on the other side of the tent. She was softly snoring while she mumbled something inaudible. Zac left her in peace and snuck out of the tent. He was enveloped in the cool night air and glowing glory of the moon as he walked over to a rock that was on the other side of the rock group.

He sat down on the ground, leaning against the rock, and looked up at the moon. He thought about what he had just experienced while he was asleep. It was horrible. He never thought his mind could create such a horrid picture. He shook the thoughts out of his head, and something touched his shoulder.

It was Lyra. She followed him out and was wondering what was eating him up. She sat down next to him.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked.

"Just...thinking."

"About what?"

"Nothing."

Lyra wasn't satisfied. She pushed him further.

"What happened?"

"Look, Lyra. I really don't want to talk about it."

She leaned up against him and softly squeezed his mid section with her legs. She lay her head on his shoulder and rubbed his bare chest with one hoof.

"It's alright, I can keep a secret. Just tell me. I promise I'll make you feel better." She said in a soft tone.

Zac took a deep inhale and exhale.

"I had a dream last night. It was about my family. We were all in Equestria. I tried to run to them and hug them all just to tell them how much I love them. But I was caught on something. I looked at my hands and they were chained to a brick wall. I looked up and saw that my family was being apprehended by royal guards. They chained them to a wall and out if the mist, Princess Celestia appeared. She pointed her horn at my family, and they all burst into flames and evaporated into dust. She then pointed at me and did the same."

A tear rolled down his cheek and fell onto his chest. Lyra was shocked. Princess Celestia would never do such a thing, but she then realized that what she had done to his species was horrible and unfair.

"Oh, you poor baby." She said.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. Just relax and let me make you feel better."

She slid from hugging his chest down to his waist. Zac almost pushed her away, but his balls were as blue as his jeans, so he did as she said and relaxed. She used her magic to unbutton his pants and pulled down his underwear. She opened her mouth and lowered her head down. Zac embraced her gift and lay his head back.

oooooooo

In the morning sunlight, Zac got all of his gear back on and made sure he had all of His supplies. He got out a couple of cans of peaches and opened them both. He sat down next to Lyra and handed the other can to Fluttershy, Diamond Grace, and Dusk Wing.

"I know it isn't much, but it's all I have for now." Zac said.

He lifted up the top of the large can and put it out in front of Lyra. She used her magic to lift a small wedge from the can and put it in her mouth. Zac just used his fingers and took out a few pieces, licking his fingers after he was done.

"Sorry, I don't have any spoons. Y'all are just going to have to improvise."

"I noticed that you have a bit of a country accent. Kind of like my friend Applejack. Where did you get it from?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well my mother and father were both born in Zacolia, but my mother was raised in America's deep south. She adopted their accent and culture, passing it on to me. It didn't start coming up until recently."

He and Lyra had just finished their peaches and he threw the can into the rocks. Fluttershy smiled and nodded. She got the rest of the peaches they had and handed Zac the can. He threw it into the rocks and they all packed up the supplies. They all got into the truck and Zac started up the engine.

"Rocky Mountains here we come."

Zac started to drive to a highway that cut through the mountains. He swerved past abandoned cars and craters from explosions and kept driving through. They all marveled at the beauty of the tall mountains. Zac actually took out his phone and snapped a picture.

They drove for hours, listening to the music Zac had on his phone. Suddenly, they stopped abruptly. Zac turned off the music and looked ahead. An entire section of the freeway had been destroyed and was sitting at the bottom of the valley.

"Damn."

"Great. Just great." Dusk Wing said.

"Hold on." Zac said.

He turned around and drove towards the off ramp. He squeezed his truck through two wrecked vehicles and drove down towards the valley below. The off ramp turned into a dirt road and they were now driving under the overpass. They drove in the darkness of the shadow of the overpass until it turned sharply left. The dirt road, however, continued.

They continued their drive. Every so often, there would be a trailer or a small house. They decided not to stop and look for supplies. The houses already looked ransacked, and a few had been burned down. Their charred remains had been there for months, maybe even since The Purge started.

It was soon evident that they were driving through a small town. It looked untouched, besides the overgrown weeds and broken windows. There were scattered cars and a bike lay on its side near the side of the road. It was extremely quiet. The atmosphere was eerie. And soon, Zac knew something wasn't right.

"What the hell?"

Ahead of them, a jeep lay upside-down, burning. There was a charred corpse laying on the dirt next to it. They drove past it and noticed more evidence of a battle. There were bullet holes in the walls, there were scattered bodies and weapons, and a few more damaged vehicles.

They drove on, until in the distance, there were quiet cracks of gunfire. Zac drove slower and remained alert.

"Keep your heads down." He said, making a lowering motion with his hand.

The pony passengers obeyed and kept low on their seats. Lyra hopped in the back seat and lay down on the floor, next to Diamond Grace. Zac pulled his M4 closer. He observed the mountains and the buildings. The sounds of gunfire got closer.

He continued his drive down the road, and soon, Zac spotted a pegasus hovering above. He quickly drove in between two stores and turned off the engine. He looked through the back window and watched as a human, armed with a pistol, ran down the street, firing up into the air as he ran.

A pegasus suddenly tackled him and held him down as another two arrived to help. They poured the serum onto his face as he squirmed and desperately tried to get free. Suddenly, the pegasi fell, bullets tearing through there bodies. Another man, a very tall Caucasian male, came into the field of vision that the window gave Zac. One of the bullets had hit the other man, and he had been killed.

The tall man looked up at the sky, then began to fire into the air. Zac got out and called him over.

"Over here! Come on!" He called.

The man looked over and began to run in his direction. Zac got in and unlocked the other door. The man opened the door and jumped in.

"Drive!" He yelled.

Zac drove out of the alley and began a fast drive towards the west. He drove extremely fast out onto another dirt road and calmed down once he realized they had lost the pegasi. He took another look at the man and observed his features.

He was obviously tall, he had black hair, cold grey eyes, he had a tan from the desert sun, he was quite built, and he had small scars acrossed his face. He looked intimidating. Zac looked at his weapons. He had a Kalashnikov AK47, a knife in his belt, and a katana acrossed his back.

"So uh... How long have you been running from them?" Zac asked.

"What? Oh. Me and about twenty other guys drove into the town a few hours ago. The HLF attacked us and we lost about ten guys in the firefight. Then out of nowhere the ponification squads came from the other side of the valley. The way we're heading now. Are you alright?"

'Well, this guy certainly isn't an asshole.'

"We're alright."

"We?"

He looked in the back seat and found the ponies all on the floor. His eyes widened.

"It's alright. They're on our side." Zac said.

"Good to hear. I'm glad not all of them are murderous beasts."

Zac looked at the guy's attire. Digital urban trousers, a green military shirt, tan combat boots, and a pair of dog tags hanging around his neck.

"You military?" Zac asked.

"Was. Our base was attacked on the first day of The Purge. Only a couple hundred of us got out. Now, I think I'm the only one that isn't a pony, living a happy life in Equestria. Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?"

Zac took off the Stetson hat and turned his head so the guy could see the marking on the other side of his face. His eyes automatically widened and he smiled.

"The Prince of Heart, Zac Baker! Oh, shit! Dude, I have to say, I love your videos. Me and my platoon mates would watch every new video you made! I was one of your first subscribers."

"Ah, it's good to see a fan. It's too bad all this shit happened, or else I'd still be doing that stuff."

"Yeah. Bummer. Anyways, I'm Slade. How are you managing?"

"Well, I haven't seen my family in two years. Except my sister, she's back there. Diamond Grace, say hello to the nice man." Zac said like he was talking to a three-year-old.

"What's up?" She asked.

"That's Valeri? Oh my god. She's still beautiful as a pony."

Diamond Grace blushed and looked down.

"Whoa, that's my marefriend, man." Dusk Wing said.

"I didn't mean anything by it, just a compliment." Slade said.

"So, uh, Slade, how did you get those scars?"

"It's kind of a sensitive topic for me." Slade said, looking down.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

The truck became deathly silent.

"Where are you headed?" Slade asked.

"Zacolia. I saw that there's a group of survivors in Vaxavia."

"Really? Can I come along?"

"Sure, why?"

"I've always wanted to go. Years ago I vowed that I would go to Zacolia and meet Zac, the greatest guy to ever live. I guess he came to me. It's really cool to think that I'll be fighting by your side!"

Zac smiled and snickered.

"How old are ya, Slade?"

"Twenty two."

"Couple years younger than me. What can you do? In a fight?"

"Well, I got this katana when I was twelve, I've been training with it ever since. Never though I'd have to behead bandits with it. I'm a pretty decent shot, especially with longer range."

"Long range you say? Here."

Zac reached behind Lyra and grabbed his M40A5. He brought it up to the front and presented it to Slade.

"What, you want me to use this?"

"I haven't had much use of it, so maybe you could snipe for me. You said you're a decent shot."

"I...I'd be honored to protect the prince of a great nation." He said.

He took the rifle and leaned it against the seat between his legs.

"How about I introduce you to these fine ponies. She's Lyra, you already know my sister, that's Dusk Wing, and Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy? I've seen you on television. You are pretty brave to stand up to Celestia like that. I admire that, I truly do."

Fluttershy turned a light red and looked down at the seat.

"It's just, what she has done to your species isn't acceptable. Nopony should be forced to do something they don't want to do." Fluttershy said.

"I feel you. We could be great friends, Fluttershy." Slade said.

"So, let's get back on track. To Los Angeles." Zac said, turning on his music.

ooooooooooo

_Quite a long chapter, compared to the others, yes? I'd like to introduce Slade, created by Slade4652!_

_Have faith, my friends._


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello, audience. Sorry for the wait. Read._

oooooooo

**Chapter Seven: Getting Closer**

"Wake up everybody! Welcome to California!" Zac suddenly shouted inside of the truck.

The ponies and human that had all fallen asleep in the truck woke up with a start. Slade hit his head on the safety handle above him when he suddenly jerked his head up.

"Agh! A simple tap on the shoulder would do, you know." He said, rubbing the top of his skull.

Zac chuckled and adjusted his vest. He drove onward, towards where the sign above the highway pointed to Los Angeles. The headlights of the truck had been modified to LED lights before, and he saw as signs with weeds growing around them reflect the light. In the horizon, the first remnants of the morning sun began to show by illuminating the clouds in the distance.

They drove on towards a small town, but stopped when they saw something. An antique shop. It had a Civil War soldier leaning on a neon sign that said "California Welcomes You". Zac looked at the rest of the gang, and they all cracked a smile. He pulled into the parking lot and stopped in front of the doors. They all filed out, and went up to the doors. A chain secured the doors shut, which Zac anticipated, and cut the padlock with his cutters.

They all went inside, but it was pretty dark. They couldn't see much. The morning sun only shone through small cracks in the boards on the windows. Zac looked on the wall behind the check out counter and saw a small electrical box. He opened it up and used his flashlight to look at the various switches and wires. He flipped a few switches, not knowing what it would do, and suddenly, the lights flickered to life.

"Ha! I had no idea what I was doing!"

The others stepped forward into the newly illuminated building. There was a series of glass cases in the center of the large room. Native American decorations covered the walls and hung from the ceiling. The walls were painted red and tan, but the paint had long since chipped and worn from the exposure to the heat and elements.

"I'm gonna look around, maybe we can find something cool." Slade said.

"This is why I love America. Your history is so fascinating." Zac said.

He hopped back over the desk and walked towards a small table with several acclaimed spiritual charms. He found many interesting knick-knacks, but nothing he thought he would like.

"Why are we stopping? We surely won't need any of these things." Fluttershy said.

"Well, Fluttershy, it is okay to have a moment to just feel like The Purge never happened."

"That was a good movie, though." Slade said.

"Oh, yeah." Zac chuckled without emotion.

"What?" Dusk Wing asked.

"Back in our day there was a thriller movie called 'The Purge'. Twilight Sparkle just happened to declare the event of Equestrian takeover 'The Purge' as well." Diamond Grace said, looking at a glass case with assorted jewelry.

"Hmm, this is pretty." She said, admiring a diamond necklace.

Slade looked among the replica axes and spears and looked back at Zac, who was looking at a beaded bracelet.

"Hey, Zac."

"Yeah?"

"Didn't you have a hatchet?"

"Yeah. I accidentally left it at home in my room before I left for America. I really do miss it." He said, keeping his eyes trained on the small beads on the bracelet.

"Well, when we get there, we'll just have to find it, won't we?" Slade said.

"Yeah. That'd be nice." Zac said, his face with less and less emotion as the time ticked by.

He looked at the glass case with jewelry and marveled at the precise cuts on the gems. Suddenly, one specific necklace caught his eye. It was a larger necklace, maybe big enough to go down to the middle of someone's chest. The ornament on it was what caught his attention. Here was an oval shaped sapphire, about twice the size of a quarter in the center, and two small rubies on the side. There were silver colored beads that ran up the rest of the necklace. He looked around, and everyone was occupied, so he pocketed the piece of jewelry after finding a small velvet box for it.

"So, what did you all do before The Purge?" Slade suddenly asked.

"I took care of animals in Equestria, in a little town called Ponyville. I also helped the newfoals get settled in." Fluttershy said.

"I was an anthropologist. I studied humanity and the human body. Quite fascinating work." Lyra said, giving Zac a wink.

"I didn't do much, just some work anywhere I could get." Dusk Wing said.

"I was a princess, and fashion designer." Diamond Grace said.

"Well, I knew that." Slade said.

"You still are a princess." Dusk Wing said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

She giggled and Zac looked at them with a fake smile. He didn't feel much emotion after he was sent out on his own. There was no time for emotion. Only time to find supplies and survive. And the broken heart beforehand didn't help.

"So, Zac. You never told me. Did you have a special someone after you left?" Diamond Grace asked.

"Oooh!" Everyone else said like elementary school kids.

"Actually I did. But she broke my heart. I shouldn't even say her name. It isn't worth saying now."

"Alright then. I'm sorry for whatever she did." Diamond Grace said.

"It was...pretty bad."

They stood in an awkward silence for a few moments, then Zac clapped his hands together, a puff of dust exploding outwards from them.

"Everyone set? Alright, let's go. We're wasting daylight." He said, quickly moving to the door.

He shut down the power on the way out, and the others awkwardly walked outside to the truck with him. He got in and started the engine, pulling away from the building. They sat in silence for a long while and Zac refused to speak. The sudden reminder of his true love crushing him brought up a sudden feeling of guilt and anxiety. He then began to think about the past.

'Maybe I can forgive her. But it's too late for that now. She's probably either gone or has forgotten all about me.'

He exhaled deeply and put his hand up to his mouth. He rubbed at the short beard under his chin and kept his eyes ahead.

oooooooooo

They drove onward, and the sun had risen into the sky, and the heat of it was almost roasting the occupants of the truck alive. Zac turned on the air conditioning and saved their lives. They drove for hours longer. Talk about the longest car trip ever.

He had told them before that the time would pass faster if they had gone to sleep, so that's what his passengers did. They silently snored in the back seat, but Zac and Slade stayed awake. Slade looked like he was about to pass out. He slept last night, but he had only fallen asleep for about an hour.

"Get some sleep, man. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow." Zac said.

"Yeah, sure. Wake me if we get shot at." Slade said, yawning.

Just as he curled his head up on the seatbelt, Zac stopped, waking all of them up. He looked forward to see something in the distance. He grabbed the sniper rifle and zoomed in on the cloud of dust that was rising on the horizon. What he saw made him slowly lower the rifle without a word.

"What? What is it?" Dusk Wing asked, desperate for an answer.

"It's your ticket out of here." Zac said.

"Wait, what? Why?" Dusk Wing asked.

"I'm sure you all want to be home, right? If so, then all you have to do is get out right now. The convoy of Royal Guard troops up there won't suspect a thing other than you are some tourists in the human world that got lost. Plus I think I would get to Zacolia faster with fewer people...err...ponies to drag along with me."

They sat there for a few seconds.

"He's right." Diamond Grace said.

"What? Why can't we stay with you? I don't want to leave you behind to die!" Lyra said.

"Now, now. I'll be fine. I have Slade the Friendly Giant here to help me."

"I think he's right, everypony. We should leave so he can get to his destination faster." Fluttershy said.

"Valeri...Diamond Grace."

Diamond Grace looked up at Zac with tears starting to form in her eyes. She suddenly threw a hug upon Zac. He returned the gesture and almost began to cry himself.

"I just got back to you...*sniff*... And now you're throwing yourself into a fight without anypony but Slade to support you. This is why you got that medal." She sobbed.

"I'm doing this for your safety." Zac said.

"I'm not even going to ask you to consider ponification. I know you hold onto your pride too hard." Diamond Grace said with a small chuckle through her tears.

Dusk Wing opened the back door of the truck and stepped out. Fluttershy and Lyra followed. Before Diamond could hop down, Zac pulled out the photo of the family and nudged her side. He held it out to her with two fingers and smiled. She smiled and took the photo in her teeth. She stuffed it into the small saddlebag she had on.

"Eh, who knows, I might get caught and ponified later. In that case, I'll see you in Equestria. But if we go back to our homes, I'll see you with Kaeva in Grasiur." Zac said, referring to their religion.

He waved one last time to all of them.

"Peace and love. I'll miss you all." He said, flashing a peace sign.

"We'll cherish what you have done for us." Fluttershy said.

"No, no. I'll cherish what you all did for me." Zac said.

'And I'll damn sure cherish what Lyra gave me.' He thought.

"What is that?"

"The fact that you are tolerant of humans. There needs to be more like you." Zac said.

He stopped his smile and put the truck in gear. Diamond closed the door and began to walk towards the others.

"Alright. You made the right choice. Let's get moving." Slade said, patting Zac's back.

Zac drove towards the south, making a detour around the convoy of ponies. He smiled, knowing that he did that for their safety. He wouldn't be able to handle it if any of them got hurt. If his sister was shot... No... He pushed those thoughts out of his head, and continued the drive. They were only a few hundred miles from Los Angeles, the gate to their escape to Zacolia.

ooooooooo

_Well, that was kind of touching. Also, I just cracked my neck for no reason...How about that Miley Cyrus, huh?_

_Have faith, my friends._


End file.
